400,000 bogged down in driver licence log jam

It will be deeply frustrating for all those waiting to sit driver’s licences tests that people have been getting dodgy qualifications for $500 through a scam, says Labour’s Transport spokesperson Sue Moroney.

“The Government has created the environment which allowed this scam to flourish and the result is an unknown number of people are on our roads without having passed the tests required.

“More than 400,000 people are bogged down in a costly driver’s licencing system that contains unnecessary barriers to people reaching their full driver’s licence. The Government’s failure to address this log-jam has made people vulnerable to corrupt practices.

“Having a full driver’s licence is a basic requirement for most jobs, but 400,000 people are currently not progressing through the graduated driver licensing system at the pace they should be.

In Auckland alone – where the alleged scam took place – there were 155,000 people last October who had been on their learner’s licence for more than six months or had been on their restricted licence for more than 18 months.

“That’s a big drain on our local economies; not to mention the impact on individuals who are unable to progress to a full licence because they can’t afford to pay for the next test, can’t access a testing facility or can’t afford the driver education they need to gain their full licence.

“It will be galling for those thousands of people to learn there have been others jumping the queue and dodging the requirement of passing these rigorous tests,” Sue Moroney says.